Hunter Wilson/Daily NewsMore than 75 people attend a public meeting Monday at the Chalybeate Volunteer Fire Department about a low-income housing complex that will be built in the area.

About 75 people rallied Monday against a southern Edmonson County low-income housing development proposed for construction by a Leitchfield developer.

The developer, Garry Watkins of Wabuck Development Co., met last night with residents at the Chalybeate Volunteer Fire Department to discuss the development and to hear from neighboring residents, many of whom were frustrated about not being notified earlier about the development and worried that it would lower surrounding property values and attract undesirable tenants.

Watkins passed out fact sheets and street plans for Teresa Terrace, a low-income housing subdivision of 12 single-story brick buildings containing 24 duplex units as well as a community building.

Most of the people who received the information had signed a petition prior to the meeting, declaring their opposition to the project.

Located off Bledsoe Road near the Warren County line, the proposed neighborhood is situated on land that was part of the former Watt farm.

Watkins bought 40 acres of the farmland at public auction in 2006, and the development has been proposed for 15.5 acres of that tract.

Watkins told the people gathered that he was at the “point of no return” on the project, having committed financially toward construction costs, which he said would amount to $200,000.

He anticipated the project would be complete next year, with people moving in beginning in fall 2009.

Clayton Watkins Construction of Leitchfield has been contracted to build the houses, while Leitchfield company Homeland Inc. will manage the properties.

According to the fact sheet, Teresa Terrace contains four one-bedroom, 12 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom units.

Each one-bedroom unit measures 728 square feet and carries a monthly rent of $330, while the two-bedroom units are 961 square feet with a $360 rent and the three-bedroom units measure 1,217 square feet and cost $395 per month.

Rent figures do not include monthly electric bills.

There had been concern prior to the meeting that Teresa Terrace would consist of Section 8 housing, in which tenants would have their rent partially subsidized by the federal government. But Watkins said he did not apply for the Section 8 designation.

“These people who will come will write checks to pay their rent every month to live there and will write checks every month to pay their electric bill,” Watkins said.

Yet an income cap has been imposed for potential tenants, with a tenant in a one-person household being allowed to make no more than $22,638 per year.

A two-person household can have a maximum income of $25,872, in a three-person household, the maximum income to qualify to live there is $29,106 and for a four-person household, the cap is $32,340.

Watkins said he had received tax credits from the Kentucky Housing Corporation to help with construction.

“The tax credits help provide resources to help develop the project and reduce the cost of development so you can hold the rent down,” Watkins said. “Rents like that are quite honestly not doable for new construction, generally.”

Many of the people at Monday’s meeting live near the site of Teresa Terrace in homes that have been built in the past decade.

Several of them questioned how the development would fit in with the surrounding houses, which some people said were worth nearly $500,000 and measured more than 5,000 square feet.

“I’m a little saddened that today was the first day I found out about the project and it’s going in my backyard,” said Crystal Wolfe, who lives on Chalybeate School Road. “It’s not fair to have someone who is not a resident to come in and make a change without asking us.”

Watkins submitted a plat to the Edmonson County Planning Commission, and that has been approved. The county has no zoning laws to restrict ways in which land can be developed.

After Watkins and his partners left, many of the residents stayed to ask Edmonson County Judge-Executive N.E. Reed and District 1 Magistrate Arnold Graham about how to institute zoning regulations in the county and why the possibility has not come up for a vote in fiscal court.

Reed said magistrates have talked with residents in the county and found too much opposition to zoning from people who were protective of their properties.

“I know you’re not satisfied with the project, but when we don’t have anything to regulate that, (developers) only have to satisfy state regulations on permits,” Reed said.

Reed told the remaining audience that he had worked with Watkins for several months to arrange the public meeting. Watkins tried to assure people early in the meeting that the residents at Teresa Terrace would be local people trying to make a living – outlining scenarios of a two-person household consisting of a man who works a factory job while his wife goes to school, and a retiree living on Social Security in a one-person unit.

If a household’s total income rises above the restriction while a tenant lives there, that person would not be required to leave, Watkins said.

Prospective tenants would be subject to a thorough vetting process that would include out-of-state checks of police records – no one with a previous felony conviction or with three misdemeanor convictions in the past three years would be admitted.

“We did our best to incorporate as many features as possible so that they don’t look like apartments,” said Anthony Elmore, Watkins’ son-in-law, who assisted with development.

The assurance, however, didn’t seem to allay concerns that the neighborhood would attract crime or that county roads leading to and from the development would be stressed from heavy traffic.

“I don’t think you give a darn about us,” said Karen Klusky of Bledsoe Road. “These homes are something we’ve worked our entire lives for, and this is just a business proposition for you and nothing else.”

Dave Peters of Denham Road, meanwhile, worked to organize the people gathered there to fight the development, as well as future ones.

A community meeting to discuss strategy was tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 23 at the fire station.